Draft-regulator for domestic furnaces.



A. C. H|LS|NGER..

DRAFT REGULATOR FOR DOMESTIC FURNACES.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 26. I916.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

1 WITNESSES: 30

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ALIBURTIS C. I-IILSINGER, EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

DRAFT-REGULATOR FOR DOMESTIC FURNACES.

Application filed January 26, 1916. Serial N 0. 74,363.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBURTIS C. HILSIN- one, a citizen of the United States, and resi-' dent of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DraftRegulators for Domestic Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to draft regulators for domestic furnaces.

Heretofore in those furnaces commonly used for household purposes, it has often been the custom to equip them with automatic damper regulators having a diaphragm or thermo-static regulator connected with devices in the smoke flue or with devices connected with the ash pit door. Frequently such contrivances will allow the fire to burn too freely before it is checked. When that occurs the householder is compelled to go down into the cellar and open the feed door in order to cool the fire off, and then later has to go down again to close the door.

My object is to obviate such difliculties and save fuel by providing means to automatically regulate the draft at the fire door in such a way that air will be admitted above the fire and so that the regulator will respond more quickly to fluctuations of heat and maintain a more perfect balance.

A further object is to so construct and ar range the appliance that it will not interfere with the ordinary hand operations in open- .ing and closing the feed door for coaling, cleaning, etc, and so that it can be easily attached to furnaces already set up and in use.

To this end my invention consists in the peculiar features and combination of parts more fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of my apparatus as applied to an ordinary steam furnace. Fig. 2 a detail side view showing the position of the parts with the door in closed adjustment. Fig. 3 a detail top view showing the position of parts with the door in open adjustment. Fig. 4: is a detail end view of the door when in open adjustment. Fig. 5 a detail view of one of the connections.

The reference numeral 1 denotes a common furnace such as used for household purposes, and 2 a fire or feed door. This door and 8 is a steam gage.

has the usual hinges e4, latch 2 keeper 2, and handle 2. 3 is a flue door. a a grate door. 5 is a door to the ash-pit, and 5s a damper. 6 is a steam-actuated diaphragm which raises and lowers a weighted lever 7, 16 is a grate in fire box 47. [is all of these last named features are old further description is unnecessary.

Opening or closing the front fire door of a furnace to admit air directly to the fire box and over the fire is usually the quickest way to regulate the heat, but heretofore the operation has generally been performed by hand owing to the resistance caused by the weight of the door, the friction on the hinges and consequent power required to latch and unlatch and swing it automatically.

The following described construction enables me to overcome the above-named difiiculties and to work such a door automatically and without interfering with the customa ry hand method. In applying my device to the furnace l a long latch 9 is used. This latch is secured to the door 2 slightly above the old latch 2 and in such away that it will project out radially from the free end of the door, and come in contact with a prop -11 rising from the base 12 of the furnace. A keeper is attached to and moves with the prop 11 and is fixed at such a height that it will engage the latch and support the free end of the door to ease the friction on the hinges 1 1, and allow the lower latch 2 to just clear the fixed keeper 2 The prop 11 extends upward to a point opposite the flue door 3 where it is attached to a bell-crank 17 which will be more fully described later. The pivotal lower end 15 of the prop 11 is pointed in order to reduce the amount of bearing surface on the base plate 16. and allow free lateral vibrations of the prop in swinging the door 2. The upper end of said prop is connected with the bell-crank 17 by a wrist 19 on the outer end of an upwardly extending arm 22 which wrist passes through an anti-friction spool 18 located within an open slot21 between the prongs 20, a cotter pin 29:11olding the spool on. The slot 21 is wide enough to allow the prop to turn on its longitudinal axis, and the keeper notch 30 should be of a size and depth to let the latch and keeper turn slightly in relation to each other when vibrated.

The bell-crank 17 extends across the front of the furnace and is fulcrumed in the flue door casting 25 and has an arm 24 on its right hand end. The arm 2a has a sleeve 41 which fits over the fulcrum portion 23 and can be locked in any suitable position by the set-screw 40.

The weighted lever 7 is provided with the regulation sliding weights 27 and 28 and rocks up and down on an upright 26 rising from diaphragm 6.

31 is a lifting rod extending up from diaphragm 6, and pinjoined at 43 to the lever 7. The arm 2a of the bell-crank is connected with the weighted lever 7 through the medium of a rod 38 having its opposite ends pivotally attached to the arm 24 and to a sliding clamp forming the weight 28 re spectively.

The construction of my device having been described I will now explain its operation: Assuming that the weights have been adjusted on lever 7 for a predetermined amount of heat, and that fresh coal has just been put on the fire, the feed door may now be manually swung on its hinges until the latch 9 comes in contact with the prop 11 and is held by the keeper 10 to vibrate with said prop 11. The prop when contacted by the latch yields sufficiently to permit the door to close tightly as seen in Fig. 2. The fire will now pick up until the required degree of heat is reached whereupon the diaphragm 6 will lift the weighted lever 7 through the medium of rod 31. This action lowers the right hand arm 7 of the weighted lever 7 and pushing down the rod 33, rocks bell-crank 17, and moves forward the arm 22 together with prop 11, thereby opening the door and slowing down the fire. Cooling off of the fire has the reverse efi'ect on the parts until an equilibrium is estab lished.

Access to the fire can be had by opening the fire door 2 by hand the same as before my regulator was attached to the furnace. The hand operation of opening the door merely consists in grasping handle 2 on the door 2, lifting it slightly to free the latch from the keeper 10 and swinging the door outwardly on its hinges 44. A reversal of these movements locks the latch and brings the door up against the jamb casting 4-5 after which the automatic mechanism will take care of the draft.

By thus constructing and arranging the parts the horizontal arc X, X, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, in which the door swings and the vertical arc Y, Y, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, in which the prop moves, are so finely adjusted that friction between the parts is reduced to a minimum and prompt action and perfect balance are the result.

In practice I have found that my device when set to a predetermined heat, will hold the fire down so finely that the hand of the steam gage will remain practically stationary.

It is apparent that my apparatus might be varied in a great variety of ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction herein shown, but consider myself entitled to all such evasions.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a draft regulator for domestic furnaces and the like, a furnace door provided with a latch and its keeper all of which are arranged and adapted to swing bodily together with the door in combination with heat controlled connections whereby the door and latching devices vibrate back and forth in response to fluctuations in the heat of'the furnace.

2. In an automatic draft regulator for furnaces the combination with usual steam diaphragm, of a door provided with a latch on its free end, a vibratory prop, a keeper on the prop, a fork and spool connection at the upper end of said prop, a bell-crank connected with the fork and spool connection, a weighted lever and connecting rod between the lever and the bell-crank.

3. In a draft regulator for steam furnaces, and the like, a furnace fire door which swings in a horizontal path and has alatch on its free end, in combination with a movable keeper, and heat-controlled devices connected to move the keeper and door together and in harmony with the rise and fall of the heat in the furnace whereby an even temperature is maintained.

4. In a draft regulator for domestic steam furnaces and the like, the combination with a swinging door and its latch, of a movable keeper which engages and moves back and forth with the latch and door, and heat actuated devices attached to the keeper.

. 5. In a draft regulator for furnaces and the like, a door, a latch at its free end, a vibrating member provided with a keeper, said latch removably resting upon said keeper and supporting said door and devices for operating said vibrating member for the purposes substantially as described.

6. In a furnace, means for regulating temperature therein, comprising a vibratory prop, means adapted to vibrate said prop, a support fixed to said prop, and a horizontally swingable feed door provided with means at its free end loosely and removably resting upon said support whereby said door is vibrated with said prop to regulate the draft.

7. In a furnace, means for regulating the temperature therein, comprising a horizontally swingable furnace feed door, and mechanism loosely and removably supporting said door whereby it may be removed Essex and State of New Jersey this 25th day therefrom and swung open to permit fuel of January A. D. 1916. being supplied to said furnace, and means for actuating said mechanism whereby said ALBURTIS HILSINGER' door is swung when in normal position to Witnesses: regulate the draft. CARL H. STIGER, Signed at East Orange in the county of R. G. DU BoIs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

